#6. GAYs' same-sex marriage!

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 12 Sep 2007, 5:38:47 PM***

Is same-sex marriage a practical consideration in this age of globalisation?

I was just doing research online -to find relevant articles regarding the current Homosexuals situation in Singapore- that I discovered many heated discussions on this issue. In particular, one entry titled " Section 377A" received over 50 responses various readers!

Ever since MM Lee mentioned about the GAY community of Singapore in July, there has been a huge controversy revolving around two groups of people:

1. Pro-choice ones who believe that it's delayed action for Singapore to still hold on to the Law--Section 377A of the code states that any male person who commits "gross indecency" with another male is subject to up to two years in prison, while other countries including Malaysia, Thailand and even our close economic rival, Hong Kong, decriminalised gay SeX in 1991.

2. Those who agree with MM Lee that Gays will "infect our heartlands" and bring about more negative consequences if we give them the Green light... Thus, the need to maintain this Penal Code and not leave the bar up.

Note that we are only talking about accepting homosexuals in our society (Yes, not even the debate on whether same-sex marriages should be allowed like what Belgium and Canada did :) I find this very ridiculous as any Singaporeans regardless their own sexual preference should be considered part of the country too! Taking the Arts' sector for instance, many creative directors are not straight so are you telling me that we have got to get rid of them all and reject their contributions in our nation? It is simply not acceptable to doubt one's intellectual because he is a gay :p

Pinky Pinky... The Pink dollar has proven to be beneficial for a country's growth too; namely for our neighbour-Thailand. In view of the economic benefits, shouldn't we think twice about integrating the "Pinks" into our society as well? Afterall, human talent is the only 'natural resources' that tiny little Singapore has; it does not make sense for us to discriminate them and cause a potential divide in our homeland.

With the advancement of Technology and globalisation worldwide in this new century, it is time for Singapore to review on her approach towards embracing such "Diversity" of her own people! Like what SM Goh once said, homosexuals "are like you and me" and we should not isolate them based on their sexuality. As in the modern concept of a democratic nation, we focus much on Freedom of speech and respecting Human rights!

Nevertheless, I feel that it will still take quite a (long) while before our country (of a 'conservative' nature) to decriminalise same-sex relationships willingly and accept Gays naturally. Recently, we hear of the Gay teacher in a top boy school being dismissed... It makes me feel sorry for him to have to lose the job (which he may have a great Passion for teaching!) but that is just the fact of life. I can understand that sometimes it is pretty difficult to make a decision in such cases. In Life, it is so not true that everything is either Black or White. We have to take into considerations the Grey regions do exist and to be exact, in many shades too!

However, what I’m disappointed about is the mixed signals that our (all-mighty) leaders have sent over the past five years on how the city-state would deal with its gay community. Till now, there hasn't been a fixed conclusion as to whether we "Accept" or "Don't accept" them. By keeping it @ low profile throughout will not solve the problem totally. Just in 2007 alone, we have to ban the Nation Party their license to hold the annual rave because it was "contrary to public interest" and disapprove Alex Au, founder of People Like Us, a gay activist group in Singapore, of the permit to hold a photo exhibition of gay couples kissing because it "promote a homosexual lifestyle".

Come to think of it, this is not logical at all. It is unfair to link the Gay community--estimated to be 400 000 amongst Singapore's population of 4.5 million--with all the negative traits (PROMOTING homosexuality, HIVs etc) just like that! Gays are not perverts and we should respect them as any other Singaporean citizens as well; since even MM Lee agree with the fact that "Being gay is not something they choose to be, but what they are born with" after verifying it with many professionals...

There are certainly advantages in accepting them and allowing same-sex marriages. Legalisation enables control over health issues, adoption of babies to be possible for the same-sex couple (This will help boost the no. of babies locally!) and most importantly social integration for a more diversified city, isn't that positive?

Enough rebuttals that same-sex couples disobey the 'traditional' way of how the families are formed etc. My question to these critics is: What actually constitutes a family when many Normal families are breaking up and children suffering as a result of such marriage failures! If Male-Female can't do a good job, why not let the other combinations try... Often same-sex couples take great effort stay together and to be able to have their own children, there is indeed a very high chance that they will treasure the child and provide him/her with all the tender loving care they can give :X Personally, I feel that same-sex marriage such be considered seriously as another new option to be opened up for people then.

In conclusion, in conjunction with the ever-changing world, the society needs to hear the different viewpoints and hopefully be open-minded enough to understand or even accept an alternative preference in Life +)

The above 940-word-entry is the masterpiece of Jean with specific examples cited from this insightful read: http://blog.gerek.org/2007/08/singapores-gay-balancing-act.php
Enjoy reading!

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A well-researched and relevant discussion!Grade: A-
Posted by Guest-mdml @ 15 Sep 2007, 12:39:50 PM

SDL Research Topics

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 10 Sep 2007, 12:17:42 PM***

Definitions provided by the ever-efficient online dictionary-- Wikipedia :p

1. Globalisation and Culture

Globalization literally means, The development of the integration of economic, cultural, political, and social systems through internationalization and localization. The world is becoming a smaller place, because of Globalization; this can be applied to many different fields.

Wondered if you guys have heard of the concept of the "Shrinking World" from the human geography side? Well, i did=) It is basically about the idea of having more air routes and cheaper plane tickets in this new age thus people travel more and the geographical distances between countries has yet to be insignificant!

Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate,") generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance.

What is Globalisation?

http://www.marxist.com/Economy/what_is_globalisation_mb.html

Globalisation BAD for Africa?!?

http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/post/africa/akindele1c.html

Overall View of the entire World

http://global-culture.org/

2. Environment and Biodiversity, Sustainable devlopment

Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems.

Sustainable development is defined as balancing the fulfilment of human needs with the protection of the natural environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but in the indefinite future.


Eupore's appoach to Sustainable development
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/
How about what they do in New Zealand?
http://www2.stats.govt.nz/domino/external/web/nzstories.nsf/htmldocs/Sustainable+Development:+Environment+and+eco-system+resilience
and Australia =)
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/

3. Terrorism and War

Terrorism in the modern sense is violence or other harmful acts committed (or threatened) against civilians for political or other ideological goals. Most definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear or "terror", are perpetrated for an ideological goal (as opposed to a lone attack), and deliberately target or utterly disregard the safety of non-combatants.

The War List

http://www.historyguy.com/War_list.html

Links for Iraq War related stuffs

http://www.thenation.com/directory/iraq_war

Some bite-size info on Terrorism and War

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Terrorism_War_Zinn.html

#5. Aristotle says...

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 11 Aug 2007, 12:57:41 AM***

"The mother of revolution and crime is poverty" (Aristotle)

Do you agree?

Read two articles on class discriminaton (given out by our beloved GP tutor) and consolidate the information in response to the question above.

---

It is ironical that i fully understand every part of the quote but don't know who Aristotle truly is :P

This prompts me to search for this guy by the name of "Aristotle" in Wiki and this is what i got:

Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.

WOW +)

It seems like Aristotle is someone who is quite respectable by all and poor little me is so ill-informed to the extent that i have never heard of any of his sayings before!!!

Jean, enough of side tracking...

---

Personally, i agree to a large extent that Poverty is the root of human's evils such as illegal crimes and many socio-political revolutions. However, it is not the only reason that such acts are resulted as other explanations for revolutions and crimes include: Unhappiness with the government, discriminations of races and religions, lack of education and family upbringing.

For instance, the pressing need to feed its huge peasant population was a leading cause of the French Revolution in the 18th century.¹ It is due to the fact that people are starving and lacking of basic necessities, ie; food and water, clothes and shelter that cause groups of citizens to uprise and challenge the current government that wasn't helping them (enough). At the plight of one's own survival at stake, he/she will stand up to go against the political group of their country; in hope to get rid of the horrible situation and have a much better life then. This is where they take part in strikes and demonstration to out rule the present government.

Similarly, when one is unable to support himself and his loved ones (refering to immediate family members), the dark side of humans run by the 'devils' will surface; in which, illegal acts will be committed. For example, a man in the G21 countries² may resort to cheating or robbing others to obtain the next meal for the empty tummies of his starving members... i believe, in those cases, individuals of the developing nations were really left with no choice but to carry out those unintended crimes. All thanks to "Mr Poverty" that have mercilessly deprived them of the (most)basic necessities-- FOOD.

However, other factors that give rise to various revolutions are Unhappiness with the government and discriminations of race and religion. Revoluions may not be always linked to Poverty or other monetary issues. The demand for a change of the ruling party may also be due to the incapabilty of the present government. Certain policies introduced may not be welcomed by the citizens thus creating dissatisfaction amongst them and the idea of out throwing the government may then become significant. In addition, the racial tensions or even the religious clashes within the country will cause social unrest as well as politcial revolutions. Quoting the classic example religious discrimination between the Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland³ (major topic that all of us learnt in our Secondary social studies syllabus :)

As for crimes, the lack of education and family upbringing of individuals play a vital role. In a way, the poorer countries tend to experience more cases of theft and looting. This is not commonly seen in devleoped countries as people are aware of the consequences of committing a crime and will not attempt to get themselves into trouble with the court. Since young, we are educated be morally upright citizens by our parents as well as schooling. So, naturally, those without proper educationwill not know the seriousness of violating the Law and do such crimes that lack Moral integrity!

Nevertheless, Poverty is still the under-lying factor that cause many to be trapped in the vicious cycle. As such, it is true that desperation drives the human soul into commiting harmful and despicable acts of crime which contradicts human nature and values immensely. It does not make sense when ultra-poor individuals just sit there and wait for money to drop from the sky (more than a times, they will just starve to death!) It's human nature to do something to continue our existence in this world; even if it means to steal, rob, snatch or fight...I find this similar to the theory of "Survival of the Fittest" whereby in desperate times, one will have go around using desperate means (*_*)

It is cruel but that's the fact of Life :X

---

Refer to links in Footnote for the sites where extra research were taken from:

1. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/lect/mod10.html
2. G21 ctries=Developing ctries http://www.anarchogeek.com/archives/000207.html

3. NI case-study http://www.flashpoints.info/countries-conflicts/Northern_Ireland-web/n-ireland_briefing.html

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A thoughtfully-written piece showing a fair grasp of the thesis statement. Good work, jean!Grade: B+
Posted by Guest-mdml @ 14 Aug 2007, 12:53:55 PM

it's "Wee Shu Min" not "Goh Si Min"

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 7 Aug 2007, 12:35:22 AM***

i happened to find part of this online article interesting:

01/05/2007

Singapore - A Nation Cheated

A Report on Poverty and Labour in Singapore 2007

In fact, it merely mentioned abt the "Elitism" case that has caused such an uproar locally; all because of this minister daughter by the name of "Wee Shu Min" :P

One of his faithful ministers, the late S Rajaratnam, darkly promised: "We want to teach people the government is not a rich uncle. You get what you pay for. We are moving in the direction of making people pay for everything."

Such attitude has produced a society with individuals like TT Durai with his avarice, Mrs Goh Chok Tong with her "peanuts" comment, Wee Shu Min with her repugnant diatribe against Derek Wee (and her father’s defence of her comments), and Lee Hsien Loong with his petulance that he and his ministers should not be expected to make "unnecessary financial sacrifices."

A Nation Cheated pieces together an unmistakable picture of PAP's failure. It tells the real story of how our enormous reserves have been accumulated through forced savings under the CPF scheme as well as through the sale of HDB flats. The slew of taxes and fees designed to maximise the extraction of funds from the people is another avenue.

More recently, however, economic growth has been sustained from illicit money laundered from foreigners. The explosive influx of migrants has also contributed much to the fattening of state coffers.

The question is: Is this kind of growth sustainable and how much damage is it inflicting on our society?

Sadly speaking, this is the National Day week yet i have to hightlight the 'dirty secrets' of our country. However, i just feel very strongly towards this case as she is someone who just graduated from RJC... She is of my age group and i am particularly irritated by her comments @ the beginning of this year! What's more with the fact that over 30% of scholarships goes to ppl lyk her (family income more than $10 000) annually :X

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haha that was a funny read...now maybe you want to get crackin on the blog task at hand, jean?!
Posted by Guest-mdml @ 12 Aug 2007, 10:40:07 PM

Other Forms of Discrimination!

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 6 Aug 2007, 11:59:23 AM***

In class 2dae, our GP tutor mentioned to us that there are actually other forms of Discrimination... These include:

1. Lookism is discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance.

"This type of discrimination, termed lookism is also a factor in areas other than employment."

http://www.geocities.com/s_cullars/lookism.htm

2. Ageism is stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age.

"We're ageist because the society we live in is permeated with ageism. "

http://www.graypanthersmetrodetroit.org/Ageism.html

3. Disablism is the discrimination or prejudice against people with disabilities, especially physical disabilities.

"Stop discriminating against the blind, cause with proper training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to the level of a physical nuisance, and the average blind person can do the average job in the same time that the average sighted person can."

http://astridvanwoerkom.wordpress.com/2007/05/01/freedom-from-disablism-what-does-it-mean/

4. Xenophobia is a fear or contempt of foreigners or strangers.

"I have experienced locals getting up and looking for other seats on a train or in a restaurant because I had sat beside them. have been refused service because I couldn't speak the host language. "

http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/xenophobia.htm

Did the criminal get his just desserts?

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 6 Jul 2007, 4:32:28 PM***

Recently, there is this local case where an offender received the wrong number of strokes (unfortunately MORE) for Caning. He then proceeded to sue Singapore's Prison to demand a large sum $$ compensation but to no avail. PAP govt all insisted that the poor prisoner victim had no less than 3 chances to check that he was issued 8 strokes (but in actual fact only 5)...

How foolish +)

Similar to something that happened in Prison as well, but not in our beloved Singapore, Pedophile priest John Geoghan was murdered by fellow prisoners!!!

Geoghan's 34-year career as a serial child molester in the guise of friendly parish priest ruined many young lives... As such, do you agree to the point that he should deserve to DIE instead of serving various 10 years ( Note that he was sentenced to 9/10 years for one of the 147 cases which he was accused for) behind bars?!?

Is it really true that even prsioners themselves view very lowly of Pedophile? Looks lyk it is true when they even transform the hatred to murder of the 'priest' before he managed to serve 1 year of the jail term :p

However, his death has yet left many feeling 天理何在？again :X All in all, the vigilance death sentence that cut short Geoghan's atonement violated both his victims' and the nation's sense of Justice.

#4. Holiday Blogging on RH

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 2 Jun 2007, 2:54:03 PM***

Blogging task

Singer believes that freedom of expression is essential to any democracy and therefore should not be limited. On the other hand, Szilagyi believes that more focus should be placed on social responsibility.

In the context of Singapore’s multi-racial society, where there is cultural and religious pluralism, which author’s view do you think should be adopted?

Write a response of at least 300 words and 2 content paragraphs, and include materials from both articles as well as your own knowledge and experience.

For full-length article, please view:
http://www.freewebs.com/vivloh/juneblogtask.htm

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Since Primary school, we have been learning about the 5 aspects of Singapore's <Total Defence> of which one is Social Defence, whereby all Singaporeans should understand and be sensitive to the cultures and traditions of one another, in order to build strong bonds across different ethnic groups. Only then can we strengthen Social cohesion; so I feel that Singapore should adopt Szilagyi's view of everyone practising social responsibility instead of Singer's view of having unlimited Freedom of Speech for all.

No doubt it's true that freedom of speech is essential to democratic regimes, and it must include the freedom to say what everyone else believes to be false, and even what many people find offensive (extracted from article 1 by Singer). I disagree with the point that all issues, including those which will threaten National security, to be made public for any Tom, Dick and Harry to appraise! Have we not forgotten about the 1964 racial/communal riots between Malays and Chinese over two five-day periods beginning on 21 July and 2 September respectively?

Therefore, there must be some forms of Censorship by local media companies to prevent the incident like the provocative nature of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which is condemned by many all over the world. As discussed in one of our GP lessons for Term 2, the values of Cartoons and Comics may not be just that simple... They may include: Economy, Humour (Satire), Accessibility, Attention, Subtlety, Implicitness, Impression/ Impact.

As I have mentioned before in Blog entry #2, "Race and religion are potential fault-lines for social division", it is just not practical to allow firms to republished (the cartoons) and mass production, knowing very well that this may cause chaos in Singapore (-_-)

It is stated in Article 2 by Szilagyi that, "In our networked world, existing societal and political tensions can be inflamed instantly through the transfer of messages from one cultural context to another." This is very true as due to the concept of a SHRINKING WORLD with advancement of technology, now we all effectively live next door to one another :p Learning lessons from real-life examples that happen in other countries, Singapore must be careful as to not step on the list of Social Taboos and destroy her own future.

Bearing in mind that Humans is the only resource that Singapore has, we can't afford to have any outbreak of internal conflicts as it will hampers her development in this ever-competitive century. Given so, the system to protect the collective interests of society is preferred.

I am glad that Singapore does value Freedom of Expression and Individual Rights to a certain extent: Singaporeans are free to comment on anything as long as they don't pass any eg racial opinions which intentionally or unintentionally to create unrest in Singapore; for our government will not tolerate anyone regardless of what their social status is!

The million dollar question is none other than-- " How to strike a balance between both!?!"

Thank god that the beloved country that I am born in has the capability to do so and managed to keep Social Tension to the minimum; or should I say almost none =) 21st July marks Racial Harmony Day for Singapore annually. Other than having the luxury to be clad in beautiful traditional costumes to school, we students should not forget the rationale behind celebrating this day, don't you agree with me?

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Able to disinguish the differing views of the authors and relate them to own experiences. Nicely, jean!Grade: B
Posted by Guest-mdml @ 9 Jul 2007, 08:30:38 AM